Investigations of the underground conditions at a site are a prerequisite to the economical design of the substructural elements. The objectives of this paper are to investigate some of the engineering properties of soils found in shanto town. In order to achieve objectives this study, 20 soil samples were taken at an average depth of 1.5m and 3m from different kebeles based on future expansion of the town and different laboratory tests were accompanied on the collected soil samples. The test results showed that the NMC ranges 18.07% to 45.22%, Υ ranges from15.28 to 19.17 KN/m3, Gs ranges from 2.66 to 2.75, LL ranges from 55 to 87%, PL ranges from 29.4 to 42.2%, PI from 25 to 45%, qu ranges from 112.6 -206.7kN/m2, Su ranges from 56.31-103.33 KN/m2, over consolidation ratio greater than 1 and compression index ranges from 0.110 to 0.246. Based on the laboratory test results, the study area soil was characterized as highly inorganic clay with soil class of A-7-5 and A-7-6 according to AASHTO soil classification scheme and inorganic clay of high plasticity (CH) according Unified Soil Classification System. One-dimensional consolidation test shows that the area under investigation is overconsolidated in its natural state with an over consolidation ratio greater than 1 and has a compression index ranges from 0.110 to 0.246.